Hiding the timer sped up my solves

[Vlaya]

I tried hiding the timer while I was solving, and it was immediately noticeable in my times, I just improved my AO5 and AO12 PB from more than half a second (16 and 17.53 seconds)
I use csTimer.net , which is great but the timer display is very big and visible, and it always really distracted me. In most of my solves I couldn't help taking a really quick glance at it (during OLL for instance), or just being distracted by seeing it in the corner of my eye. It also added a lot of pressure when I saw that my F2L had been really fast, and cause me to very frequently mess up the last layer

Now I'm able to focus so much more on my solves, and it also made solves much more enjoyable. Has anyone had a similar experience ?

I'm guessing it won't be possible for me to hide the timer in competition, but from the videos I saw (I never went in comp) the timer display seems pretty small and decently far away ?

 

[Owen Morrison]

The hardest part in comp will be the timer right in front of you, I have a big issue with looking at it many times during my Megaminx solves.

there is a setting in CS timer where you can hide the time.

Choose inspection if you want it to show inspection but not the time, and choose none if you want the screen to be blank while you solve.

 

[Vlaya]

I see, thanks for the tip, I didn't know about that option (I hid it with a window on top of it)

Too bad you can't hide the timer in comp, but maybe training without looking at the timer will help get rid of my habit to constantly glance at it.

 

[Micah Morrison]

I see, thanks for the tip, I didn't know about that option (I hid it with a window on top of it)

Too bad you can't hide the timer in comp, but maybe training without looking at the timer will help get rid of my habit to constantly glance at it.

well the timer is a stackmat which is quite small and requires you to focus to look at it. It's not something that you would see out of the corner of your eye.

 

[PetrusQuber]

Ya, whenever I’m in the middle of a long alg, I tend to glance at the timer, and if I’m doing badly or well, I panic. And my mind is also subconsciously reading it while I solve.

 

[Micah Morrison]

Ya, whenever I’m in the middle of a long alg, I tend to glance at the timer, and if I’m doing badly or well, I panic. And my mind is also subconsciously reading it while I solve.

yup I did it once in an official 5x5 solve and it cost me a sub 1 and it was like 1:00.xx

 

[Sub1Hour]

well the timer is a stackmat which is quite small and requires you to focus to look at it. It's not something that you would see out of the corner of your eye.

When I do big cube solves I find myself putting the cube right above the timer. I think thats just where it feels the most comfortable for me but it also helps me get the timer out of my mind. I was about to break 6x6 SR because by redux stage was 1:58, then I paniced, got a 45 second 3x3 stage, and got 4th place.